Internal Polarization Field Induced Hydroxyl Spillover Effect for Industrial Water Splitting Electrolyzers.

Abstract

The formation of multiple oxygen intermediates supporting efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are affinitive with hydroxyl adsorption. However, ability of the catalyst to capture hydroxyl and maintain the continuous supply at active sits remains a tremendous challenge. Herein, an affordable Ni₂P/FeP₂ heterostructure is presented to form the internal polarization field (IPF), arising hydroxyl spillover (HOSo) during OER. Facilitated by IPF, the oriented HOSo from FeP₂ to Ni₂P can activate the Ni site with a new hydroxyl transmission channel and build the optimized reaction path of oxygen intermediates for lower adsorption energy, boosting the OER activity (242 mV vs. RHE at 100 mA cm^-2) for least 100 h. More interestingly, for the anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) with low concentration electrolyte, the advantage of HOSo effect is significantly amplified, delivering 1 A cm^-2 at a low cell voltage of 1.88 V with excellent stability for over 50 h.